Designers seek to avoid exterior doors that stick or catch when being opened or closed. When doors stick, the user is required to assert an undesirably large force to open and close the door. On the other hand, designers seek a tight seal around the door and other entryway components to avoid air drafts or water leaks. A variety of threshold and weather-strip designs exist that attempt to balance the desired seal with the desired movability of a door to varying degrees of success.
A drafty entryway is undesired because the unwanted passage of air from the interior to the exterior of a building, or vice versa, negatively affects the efficiency of heating or cooling the building, increasing the energy costs for the owner.
An entryway that is not properly sealed against water intrusion can lead to infiltration within the interior of the building. The water can cause damage, most often to the interior floor or subfloor, if water is able to get into the building and remain unaddressed. Water infiltration may be particularly acute in a high wind rain storm, where the wind can force rain water against and around a closed door, then through gaps between a closed door and the frame members surrounding the door.
One known system for at least partially sealing around a closed door is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,971, which is commonly owned with the present disclosure. As seen in FIG. 1, the system includes a weather-strip 100 extending vertically along a side jamb 110. The side jamb 110 extends upward from a sill assembly 120. A sealing pad 130 is provided adjacent to the weather-strip 100 just above the sill assembly 120 to assist with a seal of the joint between the side jamb 110, sill assembly 120 and a bottom side edge of a door panel (not shown).
There remains a continued effort to improve the sealing and water management functions of entryway systems to prevent unwanted water intrusion into the interior of a building through gaps around a door panel.